L’Oréal reports “powerful” 30% rise in e-commerce amid an overall strong growth year

25 Oct 2021 --- L’Oréal is reporting “powerful” growth at the end of September 2021 with an 18% rise in sales, supported by a 29.7% growth in e-commerce. Overall sales reached €23.19 billion (US$27.03), the company reports.

“The Group’s sales increased by 9.3% like-for-like over two years, compared with the first nine months of 2019, with a remarkable acceleration in the third quarter. All divisions increased their growth over two years quarter after quarter,” says Nicolas Hieronimus, CEO of L’Oréal.

“With agility, relevant strategic choices and strong investment in our brands, L’Oréal continues to outperform a beauty market that is gradually returning to pre-crisis levels,” he comments.

The company’s growth acceleration over two years is reportedly up by 14.9% like-for-like in the third quarter compared with 2019, with North America at +23.1%1 and North Asia at +22.6%.

A well-balanced growth
According to L’Oréal, all zones and all Divisions are growing and contributing to its growth. “The US recovery is confirmed, and mainland China has sustained strong quarterly growth over two years, despite a few upheavals in the summer,” says Hieronimus.

L’Oréal says it continues to outperform a beauty market that is gradually returning to pre-crisis levels.The company says it has maintained an offensive product launch strategy. While in-store sales have recovered, e-commerce continues to grow rapidly and accounts for 26.6% of sales, L’Oréal notes.

“Since the start of the pandemic, L’Oréal has constantly been gaining strength and is ideally positioned to continue to grow at its pre-crisis pace. We are more confident than ever in this growth momentum. In an environment which remains uncertain, our performance in the third quarter strengthens our ambition to outperform the market and achieve a year of growth in both sales and profits,” Hieronimus supports.

Notable moves
This year L’Oréal USA reached carbon neutrality for all 25 of its sites, including its manufacturing and distribution facilities, administrative sites and research and innovation sites. 

The achievement is in line with the beauty leader’s global sustainability commitment, L’Oréal for the Future, which states that all L’Oréal operated sites worldwide must reach carbon neutrality by 2025. With this announcement, the US subsidiary has achieved this goal four years ahead of schedule.  

The company also joined Henkel, LVMH, Natura &Co and Unilever to urge industry to co-develop an environmental impact assessment and scoring system for cosmetics products. PersonalCareInsights spoke with the companies’ representatives at the time, who explained what the move entails and how it will benefit the personal care sector.

The company also partnered with Clue to deepen knowledge on the relationship between skin health and the menstrual cycle.

Professional products rise
In September, L’Oréal’s Professional Products division recorded strong growth, at 28.7% like-for-like and 23.6% reported.

While in-store sales have recovered, e-commerce continues to grow rapidly and accounts for 26.6% of sales, L’Oréal notes. (Image credit: L’Oréal)This dynamic is driven by three market trends: The digitalization of salons, the development of independent stylists, and the boom in e-commerce. 

Haircare, the number one category in terms of growth, was led by strong performance from Kérastase with the success of innovations such as Curl Manifesto and Genesis, and the successful launch of Metal Detox by L’Oréal Professionnel Paris and Acidic Bonding Concentrate by Redken.

In hair color, Shades EQ by Redken and Dialight by L’Oréal Professionnel Paris recorded strong performance.

Consumer products show potential
In the same period, the Consumer Products Division was up by 5.2% like-for-like and 2.6% reported. The Division outperformed the global market and in the third quarter exceeded its 2019 performance level, like-for-like. 

Makeup continued to recover thanks to the buoyancy of NYX Professional Makeup and Maybelline New York, which benefited from a run of launches, including Sky High mascara and Ultimatte and Shine Loud lipsticks. 

Finally, facial skincare grew thanks to L’Oréal Paris – with the launch of Bright Reveal in mainland China and UV Defender in emerging countries – as well as Garnier with Fast Bright Booster Serum in emerging countries and Micellar Cleansing Water with vitamin C in the US. 

At-home hair color saw a decline with the reopening of salons but nonetheless performed well over a two-year period.

L’Oréal Luxe
The company’s L’Oréal Luxe division posted strong growth at the end of September, with 25.4% like-for-like and 23.5% reported.

With an increase over two years of 13.3%, compared with the third quarter of 2019, the Division significantly outperformed an already dynamic market, the company says. 

In fragrances, growth was driven by the success of Yves Saint Laurent, Maison Margiela and Valentino, as well as highly promising launches of Alien Goddess by Mugler, Ralph’s Club by Ralph Lauren and Luna Rossa Ocean by Prada. 

Skincare benefited from healthy sales of Yves Saint Laurent Pure Shots and Helena Rubinstein, Shu Uemura and Takami in Asia.

Active cosmetics
The Active Cosmetics division continued to grow very strongly, at 34.5% like-for-like and +31.0% reported, the company details.

This segment maintained its strong momentum in the third quarter, building on last year’s already high growth rate. 

“Its portfolio of dermatological brands is more relevant than ever to address consumer aspirations in terms of health and efficacy, which strengthened during the pandemic.”

The CeraVe brand continued its momentum. The performance of Skinceuticals was driven by Silymarin CF. Vichy continued to grow while La Roche-Posay maintained its strong momentum thanks to the good performance of Effaclar and Cicaplast, while at the same time strengthening its footing in the dermatological sector with the launch of two products under medical device status: Lipikar Eczema Med and Anthélios KA SPF 100.

Edited by Kristiana Lalou